Teach me SF Bay Area

Resurrecting this thread,

Im in a similar position to Boxhead Tim, but i live outside boston right now , have no wife/kids. Im considering making a move to the bay area. Can you live in the valley for any reasonable amount of money (~1500ish) or will i have to choose between paying more or suffering a longer commute?

Also, more importantly, how bad is cali for inspecting cars? i figure between 91 octane , carb, and smog checks, i feel like im better off leave my out of state plates on my car, no?

revhard wrote: Resurrecting this thread, Im in a similar position to Boxhead Tim, but i live outside boston right now , have no wife/kids. Im considering making a move to the bay area. Can you live in the valley for any reasonable amount of money (~1500ish) or will i have to choose between paying more or suffering a longer commute? Also, more importantly, how bad is cali for inspecting cars? i figure between 91 octane , carb, and smog checks, i feel like im better off leave my out of state plates on my car, no?

Is $1,500-ish what you are prepared to pay in rent, or your entire monthly budget? If the former, you can probably find a shared place in that price range. If the later... that's probably going to be kinda rough. You will probably have to choose between price and commute.

thats what im prepared to pay in rent. Ideally, i don't wanna spend more then one weeks pay on rent.

revhard wrote: thats what im prepared to pay in rent. Ideally, i don't wanna spend more then one weeks pay on rent.

Then you shouldn't have an issue. I don't know what exactly is normal for prices (I'm more from Sacramento), but know they can get crazy fast as you move deeper into the city. It depends a lot if you're willing to get a roommate or not. If you are, then you shouldn't have an issue actually living in the city with that budget. If not, that should still get you a decent place in the Bay area with access to BART.

Yeah, as Beer Baron mentioned, $1500 is likely what you need to budget for a room in a shared house or apartment if you don't want a commute that goes 1 1/2h each way.

Live on a boat? I knew a guy who worked at the airport who lived on a sailboat- slip fees aren't too bad, and you're right in the middle of it.

It depends a lot on where you want to live. In the city? No, I don't think you can get a place of your own for $1500/month. South bay? Yeah, there are probably 1 bedroom/studios available for that much. Check craigslist.

Where would you be commuting to?

As for the car, leaving the out of state plates on it is technically illegal (you have 10 days to register the car in CA) and if the DMV figures it out they will hit you with a moderately big fine. Smogging it is a pain if you have engine modifications, but otherwise not a big deal.